What to know
- Billy Talent wrapped its 20th-anniversary Billy Talent II tour with a sold-out hometown show at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre.
- The band performed Billy Talent II in full before returning for an extended encore featuring fan favourites like “Try Honesty” and “Viking Death March.
- “One of the night’s most emotional moments came when original drummer Aaron Solowoniuk joined the band onstage to a standing ovation.
- Frontman Ben Kowalewicz thanked fans for two decades of support, calling Billy Talent “four idiots from Mississauga” who were fortunate enough to live out their dreams.
“Oh, my goodness,” said Billy Talent frontman Ben Kowalewicz several times throughout the rock band’s sold-out hometown show at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre, looking out at the sea of 16,000 people.
It’s not the most rock ‘n’ roll exclamation, but that’s the dichotomy of Billy Talent: full-throttle and aggressive onstage, yet some of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
The show marked the final stop on the 20th anniversary Billy Talent II Tour, celebrating the band’s second album, which debuted at No. 1 in Canada and rapidly went gold, selling close to 50,000 copies that first week.
It spawned five singles — “Devil in a Midnight Mass,” “Red Flag,” “Fallen Leaves,” “Surrender,” “This Suffering” — and won the 2007 Juno Award for rock album of the year.
The longtime friends — Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D’Sa, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk — started their first band, Pezz, in high school in 1993.
They changed their name in 1999 to Billy Talent, taking it from a character in Bruce McDonald’s 1996 punk rock mockumentary Hard Core Logo, adapted from Michael Turner’s novel.
Solowoniuk, who remains close friends with the band, stopped playing drums with them a decade ago due to the physical effects of multiple sclerosis.
Toronto-based, Venezuelan native Alejandro “Ale” Serritiello (The Creepshow, Make War) was brought in last year for the Billy Talent II Tour.
Playing the album in order, starting with the disturbing coverup story “Devil in a Midnight Mass,” which got everyone on their feet, Kowalewicz said little for the first few songs, instead holding out his arms like an orchestra conductor as fans dutifully sang along to “This Suffering” and “Worker Bees” while he stood on the stage monitor.
That’s when the first “oh my goodness” came.
“We just wanna say, with the stuff that is happening right now with the weather, and with just so much uncertainty, that you guys would take time out of your lives to come down here and celebrate this record with us, really, honestly, means the world to us, and thank you so much, honestly,” he said, then launched into the softer “Pins and Needles.”
Then came D’Sa’s familiar opening to the tale about drug addiction, “Fallen Leaves,” with Kowalewicz mix of marching intensity and urgency. Body surfing in the pit also began, which might’ve prompted Kowalewicz’s next remark, but he has said something similar in the past.
“From 20 years ago, until right fucking now, at a Billy Talent concert we are about love and respect and community,” he said.
“So, if you see somebody that’s having a hard time, you stop and help them. If you see somebody fall down, you help them back up. We are not here to make enemies. The world is so fucked up outside of this place. This is a safe place.”
And he was right. The pit seems so tame and orderly, a grandmother could’ve been carried onto the stage.
The set continued as the album does, with the poppier “Where Is the Line?” and “Covered in Cowardice” reminding everyone that beneath the darker themes are hooks and melodies.
A major part of that identity comes from D’Sa, whose distinctive, inventive guitar playing has always given Billy Talent an edge.
His ability to balance aggression with melody is one of the reasons the band’s songs remain so instantly recognizable.
The same can be said for Kowalewicz’s voice — a singular instrument that combines melody, grit and his signature melodic yelp, giving the band’s anthems their unmistakable character.
“Surrender,” “The Navy Song,” “Perfect World” and “Sympathy” filled out the emotional arc of an album that is still relevant two decades later and could be released today and have similar success.
The most beautiful part of the night came during the album’s final song, “Burn the Evidence,” when Kowalewicz brought out Solowoniuk, “Our dear friend, our brother, part of our family, the person that has been with us from the very beginning, until now, who played drums on this fucking record,” adding, “You will not meet a more kind and braver human being in the entire world than this man right here.”
There were hugs all round, a reminder that Billy Talent’s history isn’t just about the music, but about the friendship and loyalty that have carried the band through every chapter.
“It’s funny in that we ended up ending the record with this song in particular because this song was far less about somebody who lives their whole life, just going, going, going, going and all of a sudden, you’re sitting there looking back, being like, ‘What the fuck? I never did anything for myself,’” said Kowalewicz.
“So, I just want to say, again, us four people who come from a very small town [Streetsville, Mississauga], if we can chase our dreams and make them come true, so can any of you. You still have time. So if you’re not happy, change it. Go fucking change it, chase your dreams, because life is way too fucking short.”
He then reflected again on Billy Talent II coming out 20 years ago and told the crowd how special hometown shows are to them.
“Obviously, they come with a lot of emotion, because it makes me think about just how truly fortunate and how lucky we are to be in this band. We talked about, individually, over the last couple of days, just how our minds have been blown on this tour, and how people have really come out here to support and I guess, I don’t know,” he chuckled.
“We’re just four idiots from Mississauga.
“That is right — except Ale’s from Venezuela,” he laughed, correcting himself.
“But, we have to take a second, and we have to thank all of the people that have helped us on this crazy journey, and our friends who used to come to us play in basements, 93, and our families for giving us the opportunity to follow our dreams, and to our loved ones, who stay at home, while we’re out chasing our dreams.
“Most importantly, again, to thank all of you for believing in this band and for believing in rock ‘n’ roll — still.”
For the encore, Billy Talent gave their hometown fans a few more songs than they had been playing at other stops on the tour, perhaps reluctant to let the final night of a celebration two decades in the making come to an end — especially in the city where it all began.
They returned with “Rusted From the Rain,” followed by “River Below,” “Surprise Surprise,” “Afraid of Heights,” and the song Kowalewicz introduced by saying, “Let’s go back to the very beginning of all this fucking madness,” their very first single, “Try Honesty.”
The set then wrapped with “Reckless Paradise,” “Devil on My Shoulder” — for which everyone sang “over and over,” over and over, but it wasn’t over. They had one more, ending the night with “Viking Death March.”
And, oh my goodness, what was undeniable throughout the night was just how unique Billy Talent is as songwriters with a soldiering blend of urgency, melody and social commentary.
As they take some time to recharge before beginning work on their next album, there’s hope that even more people discover these “four idiots from Mississauga” who are one of Canada’s best and most distinctive rock bands.
